Export funding showcased to help Yorkshire firms drive overseas trade

Peer-to-peer export advice service ExportExchange is hosting an event to highlight funding and resources available to businesses in the Leeds City Region after members of the 170 strong network called for more information and advice to remove some of the financial barriers to international expansion.

Export finance experts from Make it York, DIT and the Manufacturing Growth Programme will be among those outlining the latest grant funding available at the next ExportExchange ‘Live’ event which will be held at Garbutt + Elliott’s new York offices later in May.

The panel event, chaired by David Parkin, will include Simon Middleton of Make It York and James Smith of the Manufacturing Growth Programme who will give an overview of the latest sources of funding from programmes including those run by DIT and the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

It will also feature first-hand experience and advice from business leaders from some of the region’s most active export companies, such as Eric Hawthorn of Radio Design and Rob Whitehead of Serious Sweet Company, who will share some of the challenges they have faced on their export journey.

In addition, international finance and banking experts Jon Gillgrass of Santander and Tariq Javaid of Garbutt + Elliott, will be on hand to discuss topics such as de-risking and hedging. The panel will share advice and tips about how to access the finance businesses need to support export initiatives.

“We have over 100 registered exporters on the ExportExchange.co.uk platform and also 70 patrons, and they regularly tell us they want to get more advice about accessing finance to aid export.  with so many different programmes available depending on your business and location, it’s really useful to have experts on hand to give an overview of current funding options,” said Paul Snape, programme director of ExportExchange.co.uk

“We wanted to get the key bodies together in one place to highlight updates to the relevant programmes as well as to provide advice on other sources of finance and give tips to help businesses fund exports, including learning from those who have done it successfully.”

Tariq Javaid, partner in corporate finance at Garbutt + Elliott said: “Finance can be the first hurdle for potential exporters, but there are pots of public funding out there that can be a great help in the early days of the export journey.  Our event with ExportExchange will have all the relevant funding bodies available to discuss what firms are eligible for and to highlight new programmes – it should be a great one-stop shop to inform any business looking to export just what help they can get, as well as hearing from exporters and other finance experts who can help with some of the finance challenges.”

Businesses interested in attending the free event, which runs from 8am to 10am on Thursday 16 May at Garbutt + Elliott’s York offices at Triune Court, Monks Cross, should register via the ExportExchange website. 

The ExportExchange.co.uk initiative, which launched in 2017 to bring together experts in overseas trade within firms from the Leeds City Region, has helped share exporting knowledge with many growing exporters who have registered to receive advice from experienced Yorkshire mentors or ‘patrons’.

The ExportExchange programme is backed by the European Regional Development Fund and supported by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the Department for International Trade (DIT), and a number of private sector export specialists.

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